


Components of Love

by sabershadowkat



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 09:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4430606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabershadowkat/pseuds/sabershadowkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love."<br/>-Sophocles</p>
            </blockquote>





	Components of Love

**Prologue: Trust**

 

"...Thank you, Chuck," the golden-haired reporter addressed the television camera. Behind her, fire trucks and emergency personnel crowded the area along with milling plant workers. Past them in the fenced off distance was a half-destroyed building. "I'm standing in front of the north end of the LuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant Number 3. As you can see, the main building has partially collapsed after an explosion ripped through the plant at approximately 9:35 this evening. Workers say that the fire alarm went off five minutes before the explosion, and so far it looks as though the only person unaccounted for is Lex Luthor, current CEO of the plant and son of billionaire Lionel Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor arrived around two o'clock, like he has every day for the past month," a pock-marked security guard said to the reporter. A white blurb at the bottom of the tv screen indicated the remark was taped earlier. "I haven't seen him leave, and his car is still in the lot. I assume he is still in the building."

Martha Kent looked with worry at her husband, Jonathan, seated beside her on the worn sofa as the news continued on the television across from the couch. "Jonathan, you don't think that Clark...," she trailed off as Jonathan nodded.

Jonathan had grudgingly accepted that Clark and Lex were friends, going on two years strong, and there was little question to where Clark was at the moment. "I don't doubt it. If he's heard, he's probably already there."

"What should we--."

The phone rang, interrupting Martha and startling them both. Jonathan hurried to answer it. "Clark?"

"Dad--...--me," Clark's staticy, broken voice came over the line. "The sig--...--bomb in the lab. I need you and mom--...--leave the truck in Rhyerson's fie--...--you and mom walk into town and tell people Lex and I went somewhere togeth--...--elieve Lex was never here, okay?"

"Clark, where are you? Can you repeat that? The connection is bad," Jonathan said loudly into the receiver.

"...--plain later. Lex and I are fine, but--...--go. See you later."

"Clark? Clark!" Jonathan sighed, hung up the receiver, and turned to Martha who hovered nervously nearby. "He hung up."

"Is he okay?" Martha asked. "Did he go to help?"

Jonathan raked his fingers through his hair. "It was a bad connection, but from the gist of it Clark is with Lex and they're both fine," he said. "Clark said there was a bomb in the lab -- I'm assuming at LuthorCorp."

"A bomb!" Martha gasped. She looked at the tv, where the camera panned on the destruction. "It's lucky the fire alarm went off and everyone seems to have gotten out. Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know." Jonathan took the truck keys from the basket on the island counter in the kitchen. "Grab a jacket, Martha. Clark wanted us to leave the truck in Rhyerson field, then head into town and spread the rumor that he and Lex went out together. If I understood correctly, we're supposed to make everyone believe Lex was not in town tonight."

"You don't think Lex is using Clark to cover up something illegal," Martha said with a worried frown. "I know they're friends, but Clark is still so blindly trusting of everyone."

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't know. Clark said he'd explain later. We'll just have to show blind trust ourselves, for the time being."

 

**Part One: Complications**

 

The illumination from the cell phone dial was the only source of light in the bombed wreckage of the lab. Clark Kent sat beside a very stunned Lex Luthor in a small area the teen had cleared of rubble from the collapsed room.

The explosion had originated in the lab where Clark and Lex sat. The bomb had been attached to the underside of one of the lab tables, Clark had deduced while moving debris. He had thought he'd heard a click an instant before it detonated, but he wasn't sure. He had been otherwise occupied at the time.

Clark silently thanked every deity he had learned about that he'd been making out with Lex when the bomb had gone off. He'd had Lex pressed into the corner of the lab, allowing for maximum contact and preventing his escape. Clark had ambushed Lex at the lab since the older man had been avoiding him, and he was glad he had taken the initiative to literally corner Lex. When the bomb had detonated, Clark's body and the walls had been the only things that had saved Lex. He was slightly singed, but otherwise physically all right. Clark, of course, was merely dirty from shifting the rubble.

Clark handed the cell phone back to Lex after calling Jonathan. The phone immediately trilled and Lex jumped. Clark's fast reflexes caught the phone before it dropped a centimeter. He pressed it into Lex's hand again.

"You're out of town," Clark reminded, his voice gentle, as if he were speaking to a skittish colt. "It'll take you a few hours to get back. Have whomever take charge until you 'arrive.'"

The greenish glow from the cell phone display caused Lex to take on a sickly tinge. His eyes were anime huge as he continued to stare at Clark. The phone trilled again.

"Answer the phone, Lex," Clark prompted.

Lex slowly dropped his gaze to the phone. He pressed the 'talk' button, raised the phone to his ear, and croaked, "Hello?"

"...--er Luthor? This is Kimble Walker, the night manager at the--..."

Lex cleared his throat, cast a quick glance at Clark, and spoke into the receiver. "Mr. Kimble, the signal isn't good. I'm aware of the incident at the plant. I'm out of town at the moment and it'll take me awhile to return. Contact Lauren Lopez and Gabe Sullivan and follow emergency procedure."

"Okay, Mr. Lu--...--ried because your car is in the lot."

"I know it is," Lex said. "Follow emergency procedure. I'll find you when I get back to Smallville."

The bald man terminated the call, took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly. "Shit." He hit a speed dial button and raised the phone to his ear again. "Nathan, I heard about the plant. I'm several hours away. Spin damage control until I get home."

After receiving an affirmative response from his personal assistant, Lex disconnected, shut off the ringer, and angled the illuminated dial towards Clark. "Do you want to tell me what the hell happened here?" Lex was angry. The shock of the explosion had turned into a darker emotion for the time being, and he stared furiously at his companion.

Clark rubbed the back of his neck, dusty dark hair falling over his eyes. "Well... I, uh..."

"Clark, a bomb just exploded in this lab," Lex stated. "We should both be dead. Instead, we're sitting in a destruction zone and neither of us has a scratch. And don't give me any bull about a lab table protecting us." He turned the lighted cell phone on the rubble beside them. "The walls are practically dust, Kent, and they were concrete."

"Lex..." Clark laid a hand on Lex's arm, but the older man jerked away.

"Don't." Lex tilted the light towards Clark again in order to see his lying face. "We've been dating more than a year, Clark. A year. I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."

"Don't go turning this into a morals argument. You have your secrets, too," Clark snapped.

Lex growled in the back of his throat. "God, you are annoying, and I'm not even getting laid to put up with it."

"Whose fault is that?" Clark gave him a pointed glare.

"I may love you, but I'm not going to jail for you."

"And I may love you, but I'm not going to reveal that I'm not human," a corner of Clark's mouth curled up in self-deprecation, "until I have no alternative."

"Not... human."

"Nope." Clark abruptly leaned over and pressed a kiss to Lex's bald pate, argument over. He stood and disappeared into the pitch black darkness of the lab.

"Here, I thought the bomb was the most disquieting part of my day," Lex muttered, running a slightly shaking hand over his smooth head. He had come to his private lab at the LuthorCorp Plant, like he had every day for the past month, and locked himself inside. With Clark's eighteenth birthday looming on the horizon -- now, the day after tomorrow -- Lex had been taking no chances. He absolutely refused to give in to temptation and screw Clark Kent blind before he became of legal age.

Clark had been doing his damnedest to make Lex forget about his self-imposed restraint. It had been easy at the beginning of their relationship; Clark was a virgin, shy and tentative about dating another male. As time progressed and hormones kicked in, however, Lex was lucky to be able to keep things as innocent as kissing -- though he shouldn't have even allowed that, because Clark's kisses were anything but innocent.

Lex heard a loud crack and tried vainly to see where Clark had gone. He was still in shock, really, about his brush with death, but knew from experience that he wouldn't have a panic attack until long after he was safe and sound at home. "Clark, was that you?"

"Yeah," came Kent's disembodied voice. "There's a stairwell that looks unblocked a few rooms away. It shouldn't take me too long to clear a path."

Lex pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jesus, Clark, I though you were just weird like the other Smallville mutants."

"Actually, I caused Smallville to have mutants, including your lack of hair -- which I'm not sorry about, because you're hot bald."

Lex could feel a blush heating his cheeks, something that only Clark could bring about. He relied on sarcasm to cover his pleased embarrassment. "So, I'm a mutant, am I?"

"Big time," Clark agreed unabashedly from somewhere in the destroyed lab. "After all, you won't have sex with me. That proves it."

Lex sighed. "I'm not replying to that."

"You just did."

Rotten boy, Lex thought with a sad shake of his head. The conversation, though, was providing a welcome distraction. The cell phone display blinked, indicating an incoming call. "Why am I not answering the phone again?"

"Because no one can know you were here," Clark answered. "You can only pass off a bad signal once, since you have one of those satellite phones."

The Caller ID showed that it was Lex's father phoning. "And I'm not here because...?"

"I thought you were the one with the genius I.Q.," Clark teased over more concrete being smashed.

"Humor me," Lex said. "I just found out my boyfriend isn't human and had my lab blown up around me. I'm a bit overwhelmed."

Clark grunted. A sharp screaming followed. Lex sucked worriedly on his lower lip. "Clark?"

"Sorry. There was a lab table embedded into the wall," Clark apologized. "As for why: there was a lab table embedded into the wall."

"Ah. Now it makes perfect sense."

"That was sarcasm."

"How'd you guess?"

"Lex," Clark sighed loudly. "A bomb exploded in this room. There's no way you could have survived, unless you weren't here."

"Or unless I have my very own superhero." Lex grinned into the darkness. "Tell me: do you wear your underwear on the outside of your tights?"

"I don't wear any underwear."

Lex groaned. "Don't say things like that. Your birthday isn't until the day after tomorrow."

"Again: whose fault is it that you have to wait?"

"Clark."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Clark materialized in front of Lex, grinning his thousand-watt grin. He looked sort-of psychotic in the greenish glow of the cell phone display. "Time to move."

Without warning, the teen scooped up Lex in his arms as if he weighed no more than a feather. Clark headed sure-footedly into the pitch black lab.

"I take it you can see in the dark," Lex commented, wondering if any other damsels in distress in the past had been bald.

"No, I'm using my X-Ray vision." Hot puff of air against Lex's ear. "You have a very sexy bone structure, Mr. Luthor."

Lex blushed again.

Clark set Lex down in an area cleared of debris. Then, he sneaked a quick kiss before disappearing back into the darkness.

Lex leaned his head back against something flat and metal -- the lab table, perhaps -- and closed his eyes. "How long do you think it'll take before we're free?"

"A couple of hours, maybe." Rhythmic pounding underscored Clark's words. "It depends on how bad the damage is above us."

"Ohhh, my plant," Lex cried forlornly.

"You hate this plant," Clark pointed out.

"True." Lex raised his arm and opened his eyes a crack. The cell phone display showed that Lionel had called twice more. "It'll bring my esteemed father to town, though, and I'm not really in the mood for a round of 'Lex the Incompetent.'"

"I'll defend you," Clark said seriously.

"I don't need you to defend me." Lex dropped his arm, turned his head, and peered in the direction of Kent's voice. "I just don't want him here this close to your birthday. I'm nervous enough about telling your parents about us. With dear old Dad in town, it's a disaster waiting to happen."

"We were planning to tell your father anyway," Clark began, but Lex interrupted him.

"By phone," Lex said. "Or, as I'd prefer, by fax so I don't have to listen to him berate me." Lex mimicked his father. "'He's a teenager, Lex. A male teenager. And knowing you, you didn't wait until he was legal to start this relationship.'" Lex sighed loudly. "I never should have kissed you the first time."

"Excuse me? Who kissed who first?"

"Okay. I never should have allowed you to kiss me."

"Allowed, my foot." Clark appeared at Lex's side and, again without warning, picked him up. "The only thing you allowed was, me to beat you at chess."

"You noticed that, huh?" Lex wrapped his arms around Clark's neck and clung like a fair maiden.

"Hello? Genius I.Q. versus farm hick who'd only been playing a week." Clark tisked. "There you were, grinning like a fool and thinking you'd outwitted me, so I had no choice but to kiss you senseless."

"Hey, I was fully in control of my senses," Lex protested.

Clark's teeth flashed in the cell phone dial's light. "Lex, you didn't blink for a minute."

Lex gave him a dirty look. "Clark--"

"Yeah, I know. 'Shut up.'"

 

**Part Two: Appreciation**

 

Clark looked like a professional bodyguard, hovering behind Lex as unobtrusively as someone his size could. His eyes slowly scanned the crowded tent repeatedly. His posture was one of someone poised to spring into action at a moments notice. All he needed was an earpiece to make the look complete. And a code name for Lex. Like 'Baldy.'

Clark snorted, and quickly schooled his face into an innocent mask when Nathan looked at him.

Once they'd escaped the plant and found the Kent truck exactly where Clark had instructed his parents to leave it, he and Lex had driven to the Luthor Manor to change clothes and for Lex to receive an update on the situation from Nathan. They played the part of friends returning from an out-of-town activity, parking the truck in plain sight in the Manor's front drive. When they'd driven through Smallville Proper, they made certain to drive past the bar to gather a witness or two. The actions were a necessity in setting up an alibi for Lex.

While Clark had been digging a path to freedom, he and Lex had discussed the possibility that someone had been trying to kill Lex himself, since the bomb was in his personal lab. Lex had disagreed, saying that, until the last month, his lab had been the least used room at the plant and the perfect place to hide a bomb. It wasn't until they learned about the fire alarm having sounded -- and the fact that they hadn't heard it, even though Lex guaranteed there were bells in every room -- that Lex conceded.

And now, Clark was wearing one of the suits he kept at Lex's for dates to fancy Metropolis restaurants or parties and standing behind his boyfriend, keeping an eye out, while Lex dealt with the press. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Clark wondered if his parents were watching him on television. He fought the urge to smile, wave, and mouth "Hi, Mom and Dad!"

"...And I will keep the employees on full pay and benefits until the structural engineers complete their assessment," Lex was saying to the flock of reporters. The were gathered in a tent Nathan had arranged to have set up outside the fence of the LuthorCorp Plant. The smooth-headed Luthor looked sharp and professional in a full suit and tie: black, naturally, at this hour of the night, with an amethyst shirt. No one could tell that he'd been buried two hundred feet underground, in a rubble-strewn lab that had been destroyed while he was in it, unless they looked very carefully. Nathan had expertly covered the discolored bruise on the back of Lex's skull with stage makeup. There was a cut, too, near the top of his head, stage-bandaged and blended to near invisibility.

Lex fielded a few questions, answering them with the cool confidence of a shark gliding through an ocean of swimmers. The reporters did their best to unnerve him, or catch him in a lie, but at times he was his father's son and this was one of those times. Clark knew his place when Lex acted the role of young billionaire businessman: to fade silently into the background unless beckoned. At first, it had made him uncomfortable and hurt to be mostly ignored by Lex, especially when he was supposedly Lex's date at some of the functions they'd attended. Clark soon got over it, because after an event where Lex was "on" and they were alone, he would hold Clark's hand and bitch about everyone and everything. And since Clark had been there, he knew who and what Lex was referring to, enabling him to understand without explanation, to commiserate, to offer his own knowledgeable opinion, and to laugh uproariously at Lex's dead-accurate impersonations. It made Clark feel special rather than a 'trophy.' Lex invited Clark so he would have someone to share war-stories with afterwards, something he said once that he was glad about.

Relaxed and articulate, Lex exuded confidence as well as caring for the plant employees. If his father was here things would be much different, but the senior Luthor was in flight somewhere over the Pacific, so Lex was in control the crucial first hours post-disaster. Lex had performed a little Happy Dance due to that after he'd ended the call to his dad. It had been quite amusing to see, especially because he'd only been wearing his shirt, tie, and underwear at the time.

Nathan Laskarin, ever the efficient personal assistant, ushered Lex away from the reporters after X amount of questions, with Clark silently shadowing. Lex signed papers as he walked, issuing orders and delegating duties. Nathan -- who always reminded Clark of a slightly better-looking Lurch from The Addams Family -- also juggled three cell phones and fluidly passed each in turn to Lex with the appropriate requested party on the line.

Clark liked Nathan. He was discrete, loyal to Lex over his father, and subtly took care of the younger Luthor. He was the only person who knew about Lex and Clark dating, and he treated Clark like he belonged at the mansion and not as a guest.

Liking someone, however, didn't equate trust. Nathan knew Lex and Clark were together because of necessity: the two spent most of their time at the mansion. Lex was extremely good at keeping things he didn't want known to himself, in business or his private life. Clark knew more about Lex than anyone, but he didn't know everything. Clark didn't mind, though, because it was him that Lex turned to for comfort and sharing; it was him that Lex wanted for company; it was with him that Lex laughed until he cried and let his hair down, so to speak.

And it was with Lex that Clark would lose his virginity and discover the pleasures of making love.

Clark could feel himself blushing at the turn of his thoughts, as he followed Lex and Nathan into the makeshift 'headquarters' set up within the perimeter of the LuthorCorp Plant. It was well past midnight, and was officially the day before Clark's eighteenth birthday, which meant that he was going to have sex in one more day.

It was about damned time.

Clark had wanted to tumble Lex onto the nearest bed for months now. He'd even passed "The Test": he'd walked right into the grocery store, chose and paid for a single box of condoms, with maximum blushing, under the disapproving eye of Mrs. Satoski, the cashier, who bought vegetables from his mother. Mrs. Satoski'd clucked her tongue at him. He'd received "The Talk: Part Two" later that night, and ended up coming out to his father on accident.

Jonathan Kent had been leaning against the weathered wood fence beside Clark as they looked out over the work they'd just completed. Neat rows of stakes and string marked divisions between the newly planted test crops.

"Your mother received an additional order today," Jonathan cast Clark a sidelong glance, "from Mrs. Satoski."

"Oh?" Clark had tried for nonchalant. It clashed with his blush.

Jonathan's mouth curved in a faint grin. "We've had this talk before, and I wanted to say I'm glad to find you're acting responsibly." He clapped a hand on Clark's shoulder. "You're mature enough to make your own decisions, Clark. Just play safe and respect her decisions, too."

"I am. I do." Clark sighed softly, eyes focused on a distant point. "I just really want him to be my first, you know?"

There had been an infinite pause before Jonathan finally agreed. "You'll always remember your first time. It's better if it's with a special... someone."

The slow smile that stretched across Clark's face was full of tenderness. "Yeah."

"C'mon," Jonathan pushed off the fence, "Your Mom's made peach pie for dessert."

Later on that night, Clark had realized what he'd said and had hidden his head beneath his pillow for a better part of an hour. Thankfully, his father hadn't asked who the 'him' was that Clark wanted as his first.

He hadn't been too embarrassed to find books on parenting gay children in the house a few days later.

Clark stood out of the way, behind and to the side of Lex, in the headquarters tent. The tent was crowded with officials, and Clark knew half of them by name. They glanced questioningly at him from time to time, but didn't approach or ask why he was present and dressed in a navy suit at two o'clock in the morning.

A casually dressed man in a hardhat and carrying a clipboard was giving a report to Lex about the lockdown of the hazardous gases and chemicals in the plant. Clark hadn't thought about the danger still existing after the explosion. His only concern had been for Lex's well-being.

Lex rubbed the back of his neck as he surveyed a map of the fallout area should the worst happen. "Because of the hour, we'll have to do a door-to-door and warn the residents," he said. "I'd like the Sheriff's Department to do that. The officers should all have speech cards and strive to keep the panic at a minimum."

The Sheriff, Jim Arnold, also dressed in a suit with his star pinned to his lapel, nodded in agreement as he removed a cell phone from his pocket.

"Mr. Sullivan," Lex turned to where his three plant managers stood, "I want you back here at seven o'clock to assist the structural engineers. Mr. Lopez, come at your normal time to relieve Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Kimble, I'd like you to prepare a full, written report as to everything that occurred from when you came to work up until I arrived. Give a copy to the Sheriff, too, when it's done. Now, all three of you, go home."

As the plant managers left, Clark wondered if an article would appear on The Torch's daily updated webpage tomorrow. Chloe Sullivan was relentless when it came to a story, especially when she had an ace-in-the-hole eye-witness, like her father. The speculation that a bomb was the cause of the destruction had been bandied around --which neither Lex nor Clark confirmed or commented on-- and it would undoubtedly reach the ears of Smallville High's nosey reporter.

"Mr. Marcus," Lex addressed the LuthorCorp Plant's PR Director, Bradley Marcus, who had been summoned by Nathan as part of 'damage control.' "Prepare the information for the Sheriff Department. Then, create a press brief about the plant's closing and the continued temporary wages and insurance benefits until further notice. Add a warning that no one is to come out to the plant because of the hazards. After that, be ready to prepare a brief regarding the results of the structural engineers' investigation."

Lex was extremely good at his job. Clark had known this before, but to see first hand how Lex took control and made definitive decisions was amazing. Why Lionel Luthor wasn't proud of Lex baffled Clark. Even Clark's own father would be impressed with Lex right now.

Clark was not looking forward to the arrival of the elder Luthor in Smallville. A visit from his father always made Lex tense and grouchy for days, and not even Clark's magic footrubs would relax his boyfriend. Plus, Clark always wanted to stand at Lex's side, to present a unified front against Lionel, but couldn't because of his age, and that made Clark himself grumpy.

"All right, that's enough for tonight," Lex announced over an hour later. False dawn lit the sky outside the open flaps of the tent. "I'll be back about 6:45 AM to meet the engineers. Mr. Swanson, Sheriff, I presume you'll be here, too."

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," Charles Swanson, the man with the hardhat, said. Jim Arnold echoed him.

"Okay. Try and get some sleep, everybody. It's going to be a long day

 

**Part Three: Parental**

 

After dropping Nathan off and jockeying the cars, Clark followed Lex's BMW to the Kent Farm in the truck. Although Clark had done a thorough X-ray of Luthor Manor, checking for explosives, he wasn't ready to let Lex out of sight. Besides which, an explanation was owed to his parents, who would be awake in another hour, if not already.

Lex had been to the Kents' house many times in the past two-plus years, but Clark hadn't seen Lex look as tense and uncomfortable as he did now since the first time he came formally for dinner. Standing beside his car and holding both his and Clark's change of clothing by the hangars, a portfolio tucked under his arm, Lex stared at the butter-yellow house as if Norman Bates lived there. The bald man jumped when Clark laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Lex," Clark said encouragingly. Hopefully.

Lex looked worriedly at him. "It would be more fine if it was tomorrow and you were officially eighteen."

Clark studied his boyfriend's upturned face. "We can wait to tell them--."

"No." Lex shook his head sharply. "I want your parents to know first, before my father arrives. With the alibi we set up and your insistent hovering, Dad will easily figure out we're more than just friends."

"He hasn't yet."

"Clark, we've only seen him three times since we started dating, and the first two were before we kissed." Lex sighed, glanced at his watch, and returned his gaze to Clark. "Let's not worry about my father until we have to. Maybe I'll get lucky and his plane will crash."

"But then you'll be in charge of everything," Clark said.

Lex smiled greedily, his eyes glazing over. "Yeah."

"And you'll have more work to do," Clark continued.

"True," Lex agreed, though the smile was still there.

"More work means less free time," Clark said, "and less free time means less me time." He pouted prettily.

Lex groaned and planted a swift kiss on Clark's full lips. "Cut that out. I'd rather not confront your parents with a hard-on."

"Understaaaahdable," Clark agreed around a yawn. Lex yawned, too, less than a second later.

They looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Coffee."

Once inside the cheery (even at four o'clock in the morning) home, Clark started the coffee while Lex ran quietly up to the teen's bedroom to hang up their suits. The elder Kents weren't awake yet.

Lex had, as Clark pointed out, been to the Kents' residence many times over the past few years. He was wary but respectful of Jonathan and Martha, comfortable in their presence but aware that he was always a guest in their home. And today he was going to tell them that he was in love with their still underage son and had been since Clark breathed life back into him that fateful day on the bridge.

"I hit you, didn't I," Lex realized as he rejoined Clark in the kitchen. "On that bridge. I hit you with my Porsche."

Clark looked away and mumbled awkwardly, "Dead on."

Lex needed to sit down suddenly. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table, sank onto it, and exhaled shakily. "For my own sake, I'm very glad you're indestructible."

"Yeah, I heard it's hell on the car insurance rates if you kill someone."

"Don't joke like that," Lex said sharply, glaring at the raven-haired teen. "I'm happier than I've ever been in my life, and I'm trying to wrap my brain around the fact that we shouldn't be together. We should both be long dead."

Clark walked over and braced one hand on the table and one on the back of Lex's chair. He leaned down and looked Lex in the eye. "How do you know we'd both be dead?"

Lex snorted. "I plowed into you with my Porsche at 90 miles-per-hour. If you were a normal human--."

"But I'm not human," Clark interrupted. "I never was human. So what happened on the bridge cannot be 'what if'd.'"

Lex's blue-grey gaze roved over Clark's face as if he was trying to memorize it. Despite what Clark said, Lex could have lost the chance to know the wonderful man-child before him. His fingers dug into his knees. "I love you, Clark."

Clark beamed, a happy flush staining his cheeks. "I love you, too."

A polite cough caught both men unaware, and they jumped, startled, and colored. Martha Kent, fully dressed and ready to start a farmer's day, stood with her arms folded at the bottom of the stairs.

"Mom!" Clark squeaked, straightening quickly. Lex wanted the floor to open beneath his chair and swallow him.

"Clark, Lex." Martha looked them both over with an upraised brow. They had shed their suit coats and ties at the mansion before driving to the Kents', but still wore their dress shirts and slacks. "Is that coffee I smell?"

"Yes." Clark scrambled to pour her a cup from the freshly brewed pot. "Is, uh, Dad up?"

"He'll be down in a minute," she replied, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table beside Lex. Lex tried not to squirm under her inquisitive, knowing gaze. He gave her a strained smile.

His cell phone rang and, relieved, he pulled the compact phone from his pocket, glanced at the Caller ID, and answered it. "Go ahead."

Lex opened the portfolio at his elbow, unclipped a pen, and began scribbling on the blue pad of paper in the folder. Clark handed Martha her coffee and set another cup in front of Lex. The teen gave his mother a fleeting grin and retreated again to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"No," Lex said into the receiver as Clark settled into the chair on the other side of him and across from Martha. "I don't want anyone on site until the engineers give the all-clear. No one was injured tonight and I'd like to keep it that way."

Jonathan came downstairs and cast a questioning glance at everyone before pouring himself some coffee. He joined them at the table.

"Do what you have to, to stall him as long as possible. I won't be available again until I return to the plant at 6:45 AM, so don't call unless it's an emergency," Lex instructed. He concluded his call without saying goodbye, turned off the ringer, and set the cell phone on the open portfolio. He looked at Martha and Jonathan in turn, seemingly composed and confident. "Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent, good morning. I'm in love with your son."

Clark choked on his coffee.

Martha and Jonathan exchanged glances, then looked back at Lex. "We figured as much," Martha said, blase. Clark choked some more. "What we don't know is, for how long?"

"Pretty much since we met," Lex answered promptly, casually, as if discussing stock tips. "Though we've only been dating for 436 days."

Clark blinked, wiping his mouth on the back of his $250.00 dress shirt sleeve. "You know exactly how many days it's been since we hooked up?"

"Of course," Lex said with a brief smile at him. "Don't you?"

"Well, yeah, kind of." Clark colored, ducking his chin. "I just thought counting months was something only teenagers did."

"I remember precisely when every momentous occasion happened in my life," Lex said. Clark blushed darker red, smiling bashfully.

Martha's question pulled them back into the confession. "Is there a reason you both kept your relationship a secret?"

"Aside from the obvious: that I'm Lex Luthor?" Lex looked pointedly at Jonathan. Jonathan acknowledged the almost-slight with a stiff nod. "Clark's age, mainly," Lex said. "Kansas law is very strict, especially regarding same-sex affairs. Be assured, Clark and I do not have a physical relationship more than hand-holding and kissing."

"Clark?" Martha prompted questioningly.

"It's true," Clark said. His tone was more forlorn than defensive. "Lex and I haven't done anything."

"The other reason is, my father," Lex continued, taking a sip of his coffee. "I didn't want him to turn Clark's and my relationship into a way to control me. The only way to insure that was, to keep it a secret. Nathan is highly suspect because of Clark's constant presence at the estate and the suits in my closet, but we never confirmed it."

They all drank their coffee in silence for a few minutes, before Jonathan finally said, "Well, what's done is done."

"You guys are okay with us being together? And that I'm- I'm not straight?" Clark asked tentatively. "I mean, I- I saw those parenting books..."

"It's fine, Clark," Martha reassured. "Your father and I have gotten used to the fact already, including the possibility that you were interested in Lex."

She turned to Lex. "As for you, Lex, Jonathan and I think you're a bit too old for our son, but we won't forbid a relationship between you two. You've been here often enough for us to get to know you. Just remember: Clark's still a junior in high school--"

"Only for another month," Clark interjected.

"--and high school students aren't always tolerant," Martha continued. "Be careful as to how open you act towards each other, if you aren't planning to continue the secrecy."

"I would never purposely endanger Clark," Lex promised. He cast a sidelong glance at the raven-haired teen. "Not that Mr. Invulnerable has much to fear."

Martha gasped. Jonathan cursed. Clark winced. "Uh, yeah," Clark said apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck. "Lex kind of knows I'm not from Smallville, Kansas, USA... Earth."

 

**Part Four: Acceptance**

 

Between the two of them, Lex and Clark explained everything that had happened at the LuthorCorp Plant, sharing personal smiles and inside references as they told of their adventure. The elder Kents were more skeptical of the idea that the bomb's target was Lex himself, but they didn't dismiss the possibility completely.

"The arson investigator will be joining the engineers later this morning." Lex glanced at the pad of paper in the portfolio. "A Melissa Maisey, who works for the county."

"Clark, you were careful not to leave anything to show you were there?" Jonathan inquired.

"Yes," Clark replied, though his face scrunched in worry. He glanced towards the door. "Maybe I should make sure." He stood. "Be back shortly." He vanished. The door banged on its hinges.

Lex looked at the door. Looked at Jonathan. Looked at Martha. Looked at the kitchen table. Tick, tick, tick, went the wall clock. Martha and Jonathan didn't lecture. They didn't threaten, or warn. They just looked at Lex until he lost all composure, squirmed in his seat, and repeatedly tugged his shirt collar, twisted his pen, and moved his cell phone.

Jonathan stood suddenly, the chair scraping across the floor like nails on a blackboard, and Lex jumped. Jonathan said nothing, however, he just left the house, the door banging on its hinges again.

"Lex--" Martha waited until Lex warily lifted his gaze before continuing with a bright smile. "--would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please." Lex's voice hadn't cracked as badly since puberty, but Martha's abrupt perkiness scared the living crap out of him.

"What do you think you'll do next, with the plant?" Martha asked, returning to the prior conversation.

Lex forced himself to relax. The hard part was apparently over; he'd confessed his and Clark's relationship, received silent warnings, which were more powerful than a shotgun pointed to his head, and wasn't forbidden to see Clark any longer. Except for the fact that his plant had been blown up, he had almost been blown up, his father was coming to town, he hadn't slept in twenty-four hours and counting, and Clark made gawd-awful coffee, life was pretty damned good.

"As I see it, there are three options," Lex said, moving his neatly lined cell phone aside to scratch some notes on the pad of paper. "Option one: close the plant and lay off or transfer the employees to other LuthorCorp facilities. That'll be my father's first choice, but not necessarily mine." Martha nodded, and he continued.

"The second option is to rebuild the plant as it was, which would take time and money. In the long run, people will still have their jobs, but I'd have to temporarily lay off the workers until its rebuilt," he said. "The third option is to build a different facility on the site, perhaps a government subsidized one. Those meteor rocks seem to cause genetic mutations. Originally, I'd thought that's what happened with Clark." Lex scribbled a chemical equation on the paper. "If we can isolate the chemical properties that cause this reaction, it may be applicable at many levels: cell regrowth, disease control, militarily."

"The meteors make Clark ill," Martha warned as she moved around the kitchen, making breakfast.

"I know," Lex said, now writing genetic hypotheticals. "His 'allergy' and the research Dr. Hamilton has been doing intrigued the science nerd in me. This month I've been able to make real progress, since I was avoiding Clark as much as possible."

"Avoiding Clark?"

"Avoiding temptation," Lex clarified. "I will not do anything until Clark is eighteen, no matter how enticing he is." This tips of Lex's ears reddened. He was talking about sex with his boyfriend's mother. In the past, it wouldn't have been embarrassing at all, but this was Clark's mom. Clark, the person Lex was head-over-friggin-heels in love with, who actually listened and cared about him, and put up with his varied moods.

The cell phone display blinked, indicating that he had a call. It was Nathan.

Lionel Luthor had arrived early.

Lex muttered a string of curses under his breath. He rubbed his hand over his scalp, wincing when he encountered the bruise.

The door opened, and Clark entered, clothing slightly dirty. He saw Lex and immediately frowned with concern. "What's wrong?"

Lex's excitement over his father's arrival must show on his face. "Daddy's here."

"Already?" Clark glanced at the wall clock. "He's three hours early."

"I wouldn't put it past him to lie about his arrival time to keep me off-guard," Lex grumbled as he stood. "I was looking forward to Mrs. Kent's French toast, too."

"I'm sure your father can wait," Martha said.

"As fun as it would be to tick him off, I'd rather not give him time to mess with my plans," Lex said. He looked at Clark. "We need to change and leave."

Clark nodded. "You first. I want to talk to Mom a minute."

After Lex disappeared upstairs, Clark braced his elbows on the island counter in the kitchen and asked bluntly, "Are you mad?"

"Not at all, sweetheart," Martha reassured. "The situation wasn't in your control, and you did what you had to do. Just be careful, Clark. Once you tell someone a secret, it gets easier to tell a second person, and a third..."

"I get it, Mom," Clark interrupted with a dramatic sigh. He grinned at her look. "Do me a favor and make breakfast to go? I want Lex to have something in his stomach besides coffee. It's going to be a long day."

Martha looked softly at her son. "You're in love with him." It was a statement, not a question.

Clark smiled bashfully. "It was a surprise to me, too."

They had been at the Beanery, on one of their 'study dates.' Clark lounged comfortably in an overstuffed chair, legs hooked over the arm and an open book balanced on his knees. Lex had been across from him, perched on the edge of another overstuffed chair, files and reports spread on the low round table between them. Lex's personal portfolio was open and pages on the blue pad of paper were filled with equations, notes, and other indecipherable left-handed scribble.

Clark was watching his boyfriend of seven months from beneath his lashes, like he usually did on their dates. Homework couldn't compete with Lex wearing a blue sweater as soft-looking as his skin. Lex was rubbing his lower lip with the edge of his Monte Blanc pen. If it wasn't his pen, he brushed the edge of his finger back and forth over his lip. It was a habit he had when concentrating heavily on his reading. Clark loved watching him focus so intently, loved Lex's idiosyncrasies; he loved everything about Lex Luthor. He loved Lex.

Wow.

He remembered that he had to tell Lex immediately. Because, wow. Clark had unfolded himself from his comfortable position, reached across the table, and plucked the pen from between Lex's fingers. Lex jumped slightly, having been engrossed in his reports he hadn't noticed Clark move. Clark gave him a small smile, and wrote in the top margin on Lex's pad of paper. Then, he handed back the pen, swung his legs over the side of the chair, and pretended to return to his homework.

Lex had studied him a moment, before curiosity got the better of him. He turned the pad of paper around so he could read what Clark had written. Twin roses of color bloomed on his cheeks and he laughed joyfully, causing everyone in the shop to look in their direction. Clark blushed at the sudden attention and really buried his nose in his book.

A piece of wadded blue paper hit him on the nose and dropped into his lap a minute later. Clark had glanced at Lex, who was busy paging through a report. Clark smoothed the paper that hit him and saw the words he'd written to Lex at the top, with three little words written in Lex's messy handwriting beneath them.

It's about time.

Clark chuckled softly to himself at the memory. He rounded the counter and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Thanks, Mom, for not freaking out."

Martha hugged Clark, then swatted him on the behind. "Go get changed. I want to see you wearing one of the suits you've been hiding at Lex's."

 

**Part Five: Arguments**

 

Lionel Luthor was a formidable man. From his smart suits, to his mane of hair, to his shrewd eyes behind sharp specs, he exuded power and self-confidence that had weaker men bowing and scraping. He had the ability to make a person feel like a diseased scab of flesh with a single look. When he spoke, his vitriolic words burned like acid through the psyche, belittling to the point of abusive.

Lex hated his father. He couldn't remember a time when he didn't hate the man. He hated everything about Lionel Luthor with a passion that almost eclipsed the love he had for Clark. Almost.

Mostly, though, he hated his father because, after everything, Lex still loved him.

"Good morning, Dad." Lex joined Lionel, who looked perfectly dressed in his three-piece dark grey suit, tie knotted precisely after a thirteen-hour flight, in the headquarters tent. "I hope your flight was a pleasant one."

"Lex," Lionel greeted flatly. His eyes flicked to Clark, standing behind Lex. "Is there a reason Mr. Kent is here?"

"He's with me," Lex answered ambiguously. He turned to address Nathan as his assistant entered the tent. "Have the police finished their preliminary report?"

"I have it here." Nathan opened a thick portfolio and readily found the report requested in the stack of forms and other papers. He handed it to Lex.

"Good." Lex began skimming the report. "Make sure Ms. Maisey has a copy when she arrives."

"Yes, sir."

"I need to speak with my father," Lex said. "Let me know when the engineers get here and make certain there are extra hardhats available. Aside from the arson investigator, Jim Arnold, Charles Swanson, and Gabe Sullivan are the only other three allowed past the gate this morning."

"Very well, sir." Nathan headed out of the tent, understanding the unspoken dismissal.

Clark faded into the background, an amazing ability for someone with his build and looks. It was a skill he must have developed early on, to remain unnoticed and not chance his heritage being exposed.

Lex tossed the police report down and leaned against the table. He curled his hands over the edge of the table, crossing one ankle over the other. It was casually deceptive, open posturing, inviting his father to speak freely. Lex was coiled tighter than a wire, however, like he always was around Lionel Luthor.

"All right, Dad, let me have it," Lex said conversationally. "Tell me how this situation is my fault, how if I wasn't such a pathetic excuse of a businessman, this would never have happened. Oh, and don't forget to add that I'm a disgrace to the Luthor name and you wonder how I could possibly be your son."

"I don't think that's necessary. You seem to be doing a good job berating yourself." Lionel walked over to the avocado green urn brewing fresh coffee and poured a cup. "Now, I've been somewhat briefed by that insufferable assistant of yours, but I would like to hear what happened in your own words."

Lex nodded and began. "According to the employees, the fire alarm went off at approximately 9:25 PM last night, the building evacuated as per regulations, and no one was inside when an explosion occurred about five minutes later," he explained. "I arrived around 1:00 AM, made sure all employees were uninjured and accounted for, and secured the plant. The Sheriff's Department informed the nearby residents of the possibility that our gas or chemical containment units might explode, though at present time they are secure. I gave a live brief, which I'm sure you saw, and have signed off on a press release for this morning's news. Now, we're just waiting for the structural engineers and arson investigator to arrive to assess the damage before I decide what to do next."

"Before you decide? I think you're forgetting who owns this plant," Lionel stated.

Lex's fingers tightened around the edge of the table. "You put me in charge of this plant--"

"And look what you did," Lionel interrupted. "You blew it up!"

Lex straightened, the lie falling off his tongue with indignant ease. "I wasn't even here!"

"Yes, that's right," Lionel said smoothly as he set the coffee aside. He cast a sidelong glance at Clark. "You weren't here."

Clark didn't rise to the bait, but his posture changed from watchful to intimidating. He looked at Lionel squarely, blue eyes as cold as chips of ice.

Lex was impressed and proud of his boyfriend's unflinching stand, not to mention a tad aroused. Clark cut an imposing figure in his dark brown suit, white shirt, and patterned tie.

Lex knew he and Clark looked good together, the beautiful boy and the bald billionaire. Their picture had appeared in a few coverage shots in the newspapers, but nothing incriminating. After Clark's birthday, it wouldn't matter as much if they were linked together as more than friends, but Lex still planned for them to be discreet. He had finally learned that the Luthor name was his name, too, and bad press would effect his plans for the future.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Lex?" Lionel's tone implied curiosity, but Lex knew better. He might have avoided bringing Clark into this post-disaster mess, other than as an alibi, if the teen hadn't insisted on being present. But Clark had Jonathan Kent's stubbornness, and it was futile to try and change his mind.

"Not that it concerns this situation, but Clark and I are together," Lex said.

"You're together." Lionel clapped his hands mockingly. "How wonderful for you both. Tell me: when's the wedding?" Lex shot him a dirty look; Lionel upped it with one of his own. "Lex, are you out of your mind?"

Lex couldn't help but smirk. "Happily so."

Lionel took an aggravated step towards Lex. Clark matched it.

A sneer curled Lionel's lips. "Isn't that sweet. Protecting your man."

"Dad, knock it off." Lex gestured subtly and Clark backed off, a system they had worked out for socialite parties. "You can lecture me to your heart's content later." Nathan poked his head into the tent and Lex nodded in acknowledgment. "Right now, I have a plant to see to."

Lex walked purposely out of the tent, without waiting for his father to dismiss him. It was a bold move, but he was not a child any longer. He knew Clark would follow, with the possibility of Lex's safety being at risk.

As Lex met up with the engineers, Lionel looked Clark over from head to toe as they stepped out of the tent. "Well, on the bright side, I don't have to worry about any paternity suits."

Clark knew he should keep quiet, but Lionel was really getting on his nerves. "You know, I was scared spitless about what might have happened and we weren't even here. You're his father and you don't even seem to give a darn that Lex could have been killed."

"But he wasn't here, was he?" Lionel gave him a cold look. "Now, if you don't mind, us grown-ups have work to do."

Clark glared daggers at Lionel's back as he walked away. Clark wanted to shake him for being so callous. The teen knew Lex wished for a sign of caring from his father, almost as much as he wanted Lionel's approval, and time and again Lionel only berated or ignored him.

Clark winced as he saw Lionel attempt to take charge when he joined Lex with the engineers, Gabe Sullivan, Charles Swanson, and the Sheriff, Jim Arnold. Pride and smugness filled Clark, however, when Lex side-stepped his father's machinations and began to lead the group towards the plant. The Sheriff stayed behind to wait for the arson investigator.

The morning sun cast an unforgiving light on the destruction. Clark was struck hard at the extent of damage the bomb had caused. Rubble, pipes, steel girders, and twisted metal sheeting were all that remained of one-half of the fertilizer plant. So many people could have been killed if the alarm hadn't been pulled. He and Lex would have been killed if he wasn't an alien, because they hadn't heard any alarm.

The enormity of how close Lex had come to death finally registered with Clark. He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth and quickly caught up with Lex. Lex gave him a short, questioning glance when he briefly laid a hand on Lex's back.

"Gentlemen, as you can see, we have a mess," Lex said sardonically, stopping at the edge of the taped off safety area. Lionel's cell phone trilled softly, and he took a few steps away to answer it. Clark watched Lionel's features tighten into harsh lines as he spoke into the phone. He darted a glance at Lex before turning his back to the group.

"Mr. Sullivan, I'll leave this show to you," Lex said as the men donned their hardhats. "When the arson investigator arrives, she'll have free reign over the site. Make sure you mark any unsafe areas, so Ms. Maisey will be aware of them."

Gabe Sullivan nodded and led the engineers and Charles Swanson past the police tape. Lex turned to Clark when the team was out of earshot, horror reflected on his face.

"I know," Clark said before Lex could say anything.

Lex looked over his shoulder at his father and around the open parking area. Seeing no one, he tangled his fingers in Clark's hair and pulled his mouth down into a hard, desperate, too short kiss.

"I'm going to have nightmares for weeks," Lex murmured, releasing Clark and stepping back.

"Me, too," Clark said quietly. He straightened his posture when he saw Lionel had completed his phone call. He was surveying the wreckage with a pensive expression.

Lex half-turned, glanced at Lionel, and looked back at Clark. "I think I need more coffee. Dad actually appears to be concerned."

"He's probably thinking about how much it'll cost to rebuild," Clark said.

Lex grinned. "That was quite snide of you."

"Lex," Lionel addressed his son from where he stood, "do you realize how much this will cost if we rebuild?"

Lex and Clark exchanged a look, and tried to stifle their laughter.

*****

The arson investigator, Melissa Maisey, confirmed what Lex and Clark already knew: that a bomb had been the cause of the explosion. With that news, the press were back en masse, and Lex had a vicious verbal fight with his father about who was going to address them and what was going to be said. Lex won by pointing out that the plant employees would trust whatever he said and not necessarily Lionel's assurances.

By the time the press brief was given and arrangements were made for the police investigation of the bombing, Lex was overly exhausted. He hadn't slept in what seemed like forever, and the caffeine in his system was running low.

Clark drove them to Luthor Manor, looking worn down himself. Lex watched him through half-lidded eyes. Did aliens need as much sleep as humans?

Lex had pushed aside the fact that Clark was not human, to deal with business. But now that the other matters had been taken care of, the truth of Clark's origins rushed to the forefront of his mind.

Clark Kent was an alien.

"Amazing," Lex murmured. Clark spared him a glance and a tender smile before returning his eyes to the road.

Clark was nothing like Lex would've guessed an alien would appear. He hadn't expected Little Green Men, but he certainly hadn't expected such a human look-a-like. "Do you have a penis?"

"What?" Clark looked over as his brows vanished into his hairline.

"It's a perfectly logical question," Lex said. He propped his elbow on the windowsill. "I haven't seen you in the nude."

"Yeah, but you've felt me up plenty of times."

"True." Lex rubbed his lower lip with his fingertips.

"I take it you're thinking about my earlier revelation." Clark downshifted as they came upon a stop sign. "Trust me, on the outside I look 100% human male."

"But, why?" Lex said. "And what about on the inside?"

Clark shrugged. "I don't know the answer to either."

"It's just so hard to believe," Lex said, more to himself than Clark. "Logically, you shouldn't eat the same as humans, or develop the same, or reproduce the same--."

"Lex, if this is your way of stopping us from sleeping together, it isn't going to work," Clark stated. He shifted gears and peeled away from the stop sign. "We are going to have sex, even if I have to tie you up. Understand?"

Lex's mouth went dry at the picture Clark planted in his brain. He shifted in his seat, his trousers growing tight. His eyes flicked to the clock on the dash. Five hours until Clark was eighteen.

The headlights in the passenger side mirror brightened as the car following them caught up. Lex cursed vehemently. "We aren't going to do anything with my dad staying at the castle."

Clark's eyes glowed hotly in the dashboard lights as he pinned Lex with a hungry stare. "Never underestimate a horny teenager."

"Clark," Lex half-groaned. "I want to enjoy you, not worry about getting caught or interrupted by either of our parents. We'll just have to wait until my father leaves. And don't pout at me." Lex sighed exasperatedly as Clark did exactly that. "We've waited this long, a few more days won't kill us."

"Yeah, but something else might." Clark pulled to a stop in the driveway of the manor, turned off the motor, and gave Lex a worried look. "The bomb--"

"--Was not personally directed at me," Lex finished firmly. He reached over and cupped Clark's cheek, stroking his thumb along the teen's cheekbone. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily, I had my Guardian Alien with me."

Clark snorted softly. "Shut up and kiss me already."

Lex leaned across the gearshift, meeting Clark halfway. Their lips met gently, teasingly. With familiarity and love. The outside world and its problems faded. Pleasure and happiness bloomed in their stead.

"Mmm, I don't want to, but I have to go in before I fall asleep, and you have to go home," Lex sighed against Clark's soft mouth. He kissed Clark once more and pulled away. "Take the car. You can pick me up for a change tomorrow evening."

"Okay." Clark smiled brightly. "It's my birthday tomorrow."

"That it is," Lex said with a sleepy curl of his lips. He reached for the door handle. "Good-night, Clark."

"Bye." Clark waited until Lex had disappeared into the manor before driving home.

 

**Part Six: Friendship**

 

Lex checked his appearance in the full-length mirror one final time. He was dressed down, for him, wearing slacks and a ribbed midnight blue lightweight sweater. The dark circles under his eyes, caused by the predicted nightmares, and the discolored bruise on the back of his head were concealed by stage makeup. The abrasion on his scalp was once again hidden by a professionally blended bandage. Nathan still hadn't asked how Lex had gotten the injuries, a mark of a good personal assistant. Lex made a mental note to give him a raise.

Lex checked his watch as he headed downstairs. Clark would be arriving shortly, to collect Lex for the teen's birthday dinner. The original plan was to go to dinner with Clark's friends and then return to the castle for a private celebration, but with Lionel in town that plan had been shot to hell. Lex was thoroughly disappointed, and extremely horny. He'd been waiting a very long time to make love with Clark, and the next few days until his father left were going to be pure torture.

Lex's tormenter was in the study, sitting at Lex's desk and using Lex's computers. The bald man sneered at Lionel. "Don't forget to check out the folder labeled 'Plans to destroy father.' It makes for a fascinating read."

"Very amusing," Lionel said dryly.

"I wasn't joking." Lex rounded the desk, opened the bottom left drawer, and removed a plainly wrapped gift.

"Ah, yes, it's your little boy's birthday today. How old is he now, twelve? Thirteen?"

"Dad, you don't want to get into a battle with me over Clark," Lex warned icily. "You will lose."

"He's just a child, Lex," Lionel said. "Is he really worth you losing the company?"

"Is he really worth you losing an heir?" Lex countered, walking out of the study without a backward glance.

Lex found Clark waiting in the front hall for him. The raven-haired teen was dressed in farmboy chic, complete with blue plaid flannel and sturdy boots, a vast difference from yesterday's $3,000 attire.

Clark held a set of car keys out in front of him. "Dad says that if you give me a car for my birthday, he'll run you over with it. Repeatedly."

"Then it's a good thing that this is your gift." Lex held out the inch-thick present, taking the keys at the same time. "Happy Birthday."

"Can I open it?" Clark asked excitedly, accepting the package.

"That's normally what one does with gifts," Lex teased. Clark scowled, but still ripped off the wrapping on the gift, crumpling the paper in one hand.

"Hey, cool!" Clark exclaimed.

"It's a portable chess set," Lex said unnecessarily. Clark opened the latch to expose the chess pieces snapped snugly to the soft underside of the board. "The board opens flat, so you can play anywhere. Just don't go kissing other people across the board."

Clark's smile lit up the foyer as he remembered their first kiss. "Only you get that privilege," he said, leaning forward -- and across the board in his hands -- to kiss Lex. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lex took the crumpled wrapping paper and tossed it on a nearby table. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Clark looked past Lex at Lionel Luthor, who had been watching them the whole time. "Everyone's waiting for us at Annie's."

Lex turned, saw his father, and waved mockingly. "Bye, Dad. Have fun going through my files."

Lionel said nothing, and they left under his disapproving frown.

"How did things go today?" Clark asked once they were on the road.

"I hate my dad."

"That good, huh?" Clark studied Lex's profile in the golden light of the setting sun. Tension had Lex white-knuckling the steering wheel, and his shoulder muscles were visibly knotted. "What did he do this time?"

"We went through the plant's computerized books with a fine-toothed comb. He made me account for every single expenditure, down to why I ordered a certain brand of paperclips over another," Lex growled unhappily. "That took up most of the day, but still left him two hours to chew me out regarding keeping the employees on salary and insured."

"Is he going to stop the salaries?"

Lex shook his head. "No. There's an annual corporate budget for the plant, and it's up to me how it's spent. Despite Dad's words to the contrary, he really did give me the plant to run, or run into the ground, on my own. He just wants my way to be the same as his way, and that's one of the few reasons we get along so well," he finished sarcastically.

"Was there ever a time when the two of you did get along?" Clark asked curiously.

"1987." Lex shot Clark a self-deprecating smirk. "That was the year I was sent to boarding school."

Annie's Pizza was the local pizza place, anchoring the beginning of Main Street. Inside, the atmosphere was comfortable; it was a restaurant for families and friends. There were booths and tables covered in red plastic tablecloths, and the wait staff wore jeans and were known by name. The scents of spices, mozzarella, peppers, and freshly baked crust combined in the air to make stomachs rumble in anticipation.

Lex parked the car in the side lot next to the brown brick building, and he and Clark entered the restaurant laughing over something Lex had said. The quarter-fed jukebox was playing Buddy Holly, and Connie, the matronly hostess, was humming along. She smiled widely when she saw Clark. "Hello, birthday boy!"

"Hi, Connie." Clark and his friends had been coming to Annie's for his birthday since the sixth grade. "Are Chloe, Pete, and Lana here yet?"

"They sure are, honey." Connie motioned for him and Lex to enter the dining area. "I put you guys in the back corner booth."

Six-person booths lined the perimeter of the dining area. As told, the boys found Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross, and Lana Lang squished together on one side of the cracked vinyl booth, with Pete in the middle. It was a seating arrangement Pete didn't seem too unhappy about.

"Hey, guys," Clark said cheerfully, sliding his lanky frame into the corner of the booth. Lex sat beside him as the three across the table greeted them with friendly welcome.

Clark set his chess set on the table, pushing it towards his friends. "Look what I got from Lex!"

"A chess set?" Chloe half-smirked. "You do realize that you're affirming your geek status by being excited about a chess set."

"Chess is not geeky," Clark stated. Pete opened the latch to the chess set to see the pieces. Lana made sounds of appreciation as she looked over his shoulder.

"Clark, you've seen the pictures of the Chess Team at school," Chloe said. "Only nerds who dress weird and use words like 'quasi-molecular destabilization' in normal conversation play chess."

"I play chess," Lex said.

Chloe smiled smugly. "I prove my point."

Lex gave her a dirty look. Clark tried to hide his snickers behind his hand and failed miserably. Lex's dirty look swung to Clark, and the teen grinned unabashedly. "Sorry," he lied.

"You will be," Lex told him. Clark's grin only grew larger.

The waitress, Darcy, stopped at the table, took their order, and wished Clark a Happy Birthday. Clark beamed a thank you.

Conversation started up again when Darcy left, centered around something that happened at the high school earlier that day. Lex settled back on the bench seat and simply listened. It was times like this when he felt more out of place than usual with Clark's friends. They were somewhat Lex's friends, too, by default, because of his relationship with Clark. Although they didn't know he and Kent were dating, the two men were together often enough for Lex to be included within the small circle.

Surreptitiously, Lex watched his onetime rival, Lana Lang. She hadn't changed much in the years he'd known her. She still was sweet, caring, and had the personality of a wet noodle. Lex never understood why Clark saw her as the ideal girl. She was pretty, but Chloe was more so and she had a vivacious zeal for life. Lana seemed sad all the time.

Luckily for Lex, it didn't really matter. Clark was as gay as Elton John, minus the diamond-studded glasses, and the teen had chosen Lex as who he wanted, which worked out fine with the billionaire. Lex had wanted Clark since that fateful day on the riverbank, when he'd opened his eyes and thought he was in hell, because heaven wouldn't have an angel that sinfully hot.

They were friends, though, first and foremost. Best friends, who shared occasional mind-shattering kisses. Lex needed Clark outside of the bedroom in a way that was both exhilarating and frightening. He could get sex from anyone, but Clark was the only person he could talk to, openly and honestly. He still had his secrets, many of them, both in the business world and in his past personal life, but he could share things with Clark that he could never tell anyone else. The downside was that if he and Clark ever broke up, Lex could lose more than just a boyfriend. He doubted Clark would ever disclose confidences, but the possibility was still there.

Lex wondered if his father had ever been in a similar situation. Had Mom and Dad been best friends as well as lovers? Lex hadn't been home enough to objectively view the relationship between his parents. He remembered them fighting, but not overly much, when he was on school breaks.

Then, his mom had gotten sick, and Lex had gotten angry with the world. By the time his mother had died, the rift between father and son was as wide as a chasm and Lex only made it worse by his wild and reckless behavior. Why Lionel never disowned him was a question for the ages. For some of the things Lex had done, he deserved to be out on the street, or locked up in a penitentiary. Yet, his dad had paid the lawyers and the doctors and the cover-up slime, like Phelan and Benson, to clean up Lex's messes, with only screaming as his punishment until Lionel had finally exiled him to Smallville. And that last punishment had become the best reward of Lex's life.

Lex looked tenderly at Clark as the pizzas arrived, with a fat candle in the center of one. The wait staff gathered at the end of the booth and began singing the traditional birthday tune along with Clark's friends. Soon, the other patrons of the restaurant joined in -- everyone knew Clark Kent -- and the birthday boy squirmed embarrassingly in his seat.

"Make a wish, Clark," Lana prompted, when the last note faded.

Clark closed his eyes briefly, his face as red as the tablecloth. Then, he leaned forward and blew out the candle.

The wait staff clapped, wished Clark an extra Happy Birthday, and the candle was taken away. Pete and Chloe reached for pizza slices immediately. Lana took a piece a moment later.

Lex was curious as to the teen's wish. He would give Clark anything in his power to give, and that included a hell of a lot. "So, what did you wish for?"

Clark sent Lex a wicked, wicked smile in response, his blue eyes burning as hot as molten fire.

Lex flushed pink. His composure flew out the window at Clark's darkly amused chuckle, and Lex quickly excused himself to take refuge in the restroom. He knew exactly what the gorgeous man-child had wished for, without a word being said, and he wondered if he could convince Lionel to stay elsewhere for the night.

Clark watched Lex until he was gone from sight, and snickered softly. He took a large, gooey bite of pizza.

"Clark, you made Lex blush," Chloe said with interest.

"I know," Clark said, swallowing. Chloe looked expectantly for an explanation. "Inside joke, Chloe. You wouldn't understand."

Chloe hummed unsatisfactorily, but let it slide. Clark was glad. He had come out to his parents and Lionel Luthor today, but he wasn't quite ready to tell his friends that he was playing footsie with Lex. Annie's Pizza wasn't really the place to do so, either.

Lex returned, sans blush, and asked Chloe if she lined up her summer internship yet, as he began to eat. Conversation turned from there to a discussion on everyone's summer plans. Clark's plans mostly involved getting Lex naked as often as possible, but he didn't voice that to his friends.

Dinner eventually ended with groans about being stuffed, and the check was split between Chloe, Lana, and Pete as Clark's birthday gift. Lex left the tip, and the group jokingly tumbled outside into the warm night.

Clark waved when Pete honked, the two girls with him in his truck. They yelled another Happy Birthday to Clark out the window before Pete drove off, taking Chloe and Lana home.

Lex folded his arms on the roof of the car in the parking lot and looked across at Clark. "What now, birthday boy? And don't suggest sex, because that isn't going to happen."

Clark pouted.

"Clark--."

He added puppy-dog eyes.

"Clark--."

He dropped his chin and looked at Lex through his fringe.

"Clark!"

He sighed forlornly, and with great exaggeration.

Lex banged his forehead on his crossed arms. "I. hate. my. father."

Lionel Luthor strode rapidly from the shadows of the restaurant building towards Lex. "Now, Lex, you don't mean that."

Clark jumped in surprise. Lex snapped around to face his father. Lionel grabbed Lex by the arms and practically flung him to the ground.

A shot echoed in the parking lot.

"DAD!"

 

**Part Seven: Unconditional**

 

Clark drove Lex's car behind the ambulance to the hospital. He had to park at the far end of the parking lot and, by the time he rushed inside the hospital, Lionel had already been taken into the emergency unit.

Lex was standing stiffly in front of the swinging doors that prohibited admittance from unauthorized persons. His ashen face reflected in the glass of one door's window.

Clark came up behind him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lex jumped, spinning quickly, blue-grey eyes large and scared.

"It's just me," Clark said.

Lex immediately stepped into Clark's arms, burying his face into the hollow of Clark's shoulder. He started to curse vehemently and continued until Clark's ears were burning. Nancy Parker, the nurse at the desk who was in his mom's quilting circle, looked on with unabashed interest.

Lex abruptly pulled away from Clark, dashing the back of his hand across his wet eyes. He swore again, removed his cell phone from his pocket, and hit speed dial. Sliding a hand over his scalp, wincing when he hit his bruise, he began to pace as he spoke into the phone.

"Nathan, I'm at Good Samaritan Hospital. My father's been shot." Lex glanced at the swinging doors barring his admittance and purposely turned his back to them. "I'm going to need security here immediately. Smallville is still plagued with reporters because of the plant and they'll converge on the hospital in no time. Call my dad's idiot assistant, Dominic, so he's aware of the situation. Also, prepare me a list of LuthorCorp's majority stockholders and their phone numbers. I'll call them personally when I learn Dad's condition."

Lex looked down at himself and continued in an almost detached state. "I'll need a change of clothing, too. Casual professional. My sweater has blood on it."

The doors to the emergency unit opened, and Lex pivoted sharply as he terminated his call. Hope flashed across his face before his emotions could be suppressed. It wasn't a doctor who passed through the doors, however, only the janitor with a mop bucket.

Lex muttered another curse and walked over to Nancy's desk. "I'd like to speak with the hospital administrator in charge tonight," he said to her.

"Say 'please,'" Clark stage-whispered from behind him.

"Please," Lex added nonplusedly.

Nancy smiled motherly at Clark, nodded to Lex, and picked up the receiver on her desk phone. "That would be Kyla LaPaich. I'll dial her for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Parker," Clark said. When Lex got on the phone with the hospital administrator, Clark lowered his voice and asked Nancy, "Have you heard anything about Mr. Luthor?"

"Nothing yet, sweetie." Nancy glanced past Clark into the waiting area, before adding, "But I'll see what I can find out."

Clark gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Nancy left the desk and Clark's smile turned into a frown of worry. Lionel Luthor had been shot. Clark had seen the bullet only a millisecond before it had hit Lionel in the back, because of the darkness of the parking lot. Clark had scanned the lot for the assailant but found no one, which greatly worried him. He should have heard someone run away, at least. What scared him more, however, was that if Lionel hadn't pushed his son to the ground, it would have been Lex who had gotten shot. Coupled with the bomb at the plant, Clark was able to draw a frightening conclusion: someone was trying to kill Lex.

And Lionel Luthor knew it.

Nancy returned just as Lex hung up the phone. She informed them that Lionel was in the operating theater and that it would be at least a half-hour before a definitive answer could be given on his condition.

A half-hour turned into an hour and during that time the hospital became a media circus. Nathan arrived with a suit and security, followed by Kyla LaPaich. An administrative conference room was set up for the press and Lex was given Kyla's office for privacy, with only Clark and Nathan allowed to pass through the door.

The reporters were like vultures, hungry at the scent of death. They ruthlessly pecked at hospital staff until security contained them in the conference room. Lex gave them a very brief statement, which was repeated almost non-stop on the television during commercial breaks.

The police arrived at one point and took Lex and Clark's statements. Clark talked to his parents, too, on the phone, and told them not to come to the hospital when they suggested it.

Clark was sitting in Kyla's office, silently watching Lex. The bald businessman was untouchable at the moment, distant and cold. He was acting like a Luthor, rather than as Lex.

Clark let him be, and Lex appreciated that more than any type of consoling. Sympathy was just a polite way of saying 'glad it's you and not me,' and Lex didn't want that from Clark.

Lex stared out of the office window into the night. His composure was wound tightly around him, letting no hint of his tumultuous emotions show. Self-control was essential. The Luthor empire was balanced precariously on his shoulders while the business world waited for news on his father. One slip, and the empire would crumble within minutes, should the worst occur and Lionel died.

Lex's stomach churned at the possibility that his father might die. He hated the man, but Lionel was his dad. Blood ran thicker than feelings and emotions. Lex had already lost his mother, and he didn't want to be alone in the world.

Though, he wasn't entirely alone. Lex shifted his focus and looked at Clark's reflection in the window. The boy was sprawled in a chair, hands folded on his stomach, watching Lex with compassionate eyes. God, he loved Clark Kent. Lex didn't know if their relationship would last, but he'd hold on to Clark for as long as he could.

There was a knock on the door before Nathan came in, followed by the doctor. Clark stood as Lex rounded the desk to meet Dr. Williams. "My father--"

"--Is in recovery," Dr. Williams said. "The bullet punctured his left lung, but we were able to repair it with little trouble. He is currently sleeping off the anesthetic. He will be moved to a private room once he awakens and then you'll be able to visit."

Lex shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you. Please, have someone inform me when I may see him."

The doctor agreed and left. Lex turned to Nathan. "I'll make a statement to the press in five minutes."

"Yes, sir," Nathan said. He closed the office door behind him as he left to prepare the reporters.

Lex looked over at Clark. "You can go home now."

"No, I can't," Clark said. "Someone has tried twice to kill you, and they all say that the third time's the charm."

"You think the bomb and the shooting are connected?" Lex said.

"Yes."

Lex sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "So do I."

Clark hesitated, then said, "I think your dad's involved, too."

"I have no doubt." Lex didn't believe his father's appearance at Annie's, or his subsequent actions, to be a coincidence. "As soon as I'm able to see him, I'll ask."

"Do you think he'll be straight with you?"

"My father has never lied to me," Lex said. "He just has an obscure way of telling the truth."

 

*****

 

The color scheme in the private rooms of Good Samaritan Hospital would give a monkey epileptic fits. Lionel Luthor's room was painted mauve and seafoam green, with blinding white trim. It matched the hospital gown he wore. He was sitting propped up in bed, with a heart monitor and an IV-line attached to him. He looked pale but well-groomed, and was barking orders into a cell phone in spite of it being the middle of the night.

Lex shut the hospital room door, leaving Clark in the hallway along with the security officer. Lex was tired, irritable, and not looking forward to sparring verbally with his father. There had been too much excitement in too few days, and all Lex wanted to do was sleep with his boyfriend.

Lionel terminated his call when he saw Lex and set the phone aside. "Lex, I'm pleasantly surprised. You've done a fairly adequate job of keeping the wolves at bay."

"Maybe next time I'll earn a gold star, if I have all the facts first," Lex said. He walked over to the heart monitor and ran his finger along the screen. He was inwardly pleased to see the steady blip on the display. "So, do you plan on telling me what's going on?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm recovering after being shot in the back," Lionel said acerbically.

"Dad, don't be a dick; you know what I mean."

"Language, Lex," Lionel tisked. "That's no way to talk to your father."

"It is when it's the truth," Lex said. "Something I'm still waiting to hear from you."

Lionel folded his hands and rested them on his lap. "And what is it you want to know, precisely?"

"You can start by explaining why you were shot."

"That's easy. The bad guy pulls the trigger on a pistol, causing the hammer to strike--"

"Jesus Christ, Dad!" Lex exclaimed, interrupting the caustic science lesson. "I'm not in the mood to play your stupid mind games. You and I both know you had something to do with what happened tonight and at the plant."

"If I did, why should I tell you?" Lionel said with a mocking lift of his brows.

"Because I'm your son, goddamn it," Lex spat between clenched teeth, "and you could have died tonight and I would never know why."

Lionel looked at Lex a moment. "Very well, since you wish to know so badly," he began. "Three days ago, I received a telephone call from someone, demanding $2-million dollars in exchange for your life. Naturally, I ignored the threat. You know that I never bow to blackmailers. Hell, everyone does."

"Except for him," Lex sniped sarcastically.

"Apparently so," Lionel agreed. "Yesterday, he called and claimed the bomb at the plant was from him, and that you wouldn't get lucky a second time."

"And you still didn't pay him?" Lex said incredulously.

"Of course not," Lionel replied. "Word would get out that I could be blackmailed, and I'd soon have nothing. No company, no money, nothing."

"So, I'm nothing to you, huh?" Lex forcefully hid the hurt that struck him as one of his fears was verified. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to; your actions speak loud enough."

"Now listen here, you spoiled little punk," Lionel suddenly snapped angrily. "I love you more than my own life, no matter what shit you do, but what kind of example would I be for you if I let others have control over me? You will one day be at the helm of the Luthor empire, while I enjoy a life of leisure, but that time is not now and I will not allow all that I worked hard to build to be taken away."

Lex gaped, speechless. Shock had frozen him to the spot. Dad loved him. For the first time since as far back as he could remember, his father had said that he loved Lex.

Lionel's cell phone trilled, causing Lex to jump. The older man answered. "Luthor." He covered the mouthpiece immediately and said, "It's him."

Lex cleared his throat, straightened to his full height, and held out his hand. "May I?"

Lionel acquiesced, passing Lex the cell. Lex put the phone to his ear. "This is Lex Luthor. You shot my father. I owe you a thanks, Mr--."

"Ah, the heir apparent," a digitally cyberized voice said over the line. "You may call me Mr. Jones. And, incidentally, I was aiming for you."

Lex looked at his father again in surprise as the pieces fell into place. Lionel must have followed Lex, seen Mr. Jones, and sacrificed himself to save Lex's life. If it hadn't actually happened, Lex wouldn't have believed it.

Lex turned away from Lionel and concentrated on the task at hand. "As I'm to understand it, you want $2-million in exchange for my life."

"That was three days ago. Now, I want $5-million."

"Luthors do not play blackmailers, Mr. Jones. Never," Lex stated. "However, I am seeking a man such as yourself to put on payroll. The salary is $500,000 per year, plus a sign on bonus of $7-million."

Mr. Jones was silent for a long moment. Finally, he said, "The catch?"

"You work for me and me alone," Lex said. "You will not freelance, you will be on call 24-hours a day year round, and you will not make further attempts on my life. Do we have an agreement, Mr. Jones?"

Another long pause. Then, "Yes."

"Good," Lex said. "Purchase yourself a new cell phone that will only be called by me." He rattled of his own personal cell phone number. "Call me back when you have the phone, to give me the numbers to your off-shore accounts. It's a pleasure to have you on board, Mr. Jones."

Lex terminated the call, turned, and tossed the cell to his father. Lionel looked extremely impressed. "Perhaps you're worthy to be my son, after all," he said. "I'm proud of you."

Lex shook his head disgustedly. "I put a murderer on payroll and you're proud of me, but when I turn Plant No. 3 into a profit-making subsidy you tear me a new one. I will never understand you."

"If you did what I said in regards to the plant, we wouldn't have a problem."

"If I did what you said, half the town would be unemployed."

"Your point?"

The ensuing argument was cut off by a nurse in yellow scrubs entering the room, with Clark right behind her. The teen crossed to Lex, keeping one eye on the nurse as she checked Lionel's blood pressure and pulse rate.

"Everything okay?" Clark asked Lex quietly.

"I'll tell you later," Lex replied, and he would, too. He would explain to Clark about Jones, the blackmail, the shooting and the bomb at the plant. He would also tell Clark about putting Jones on payroll, explaining why it was the perfect way to ensure he would not try to kill Lex or blackmail the Luthors again. If asked, Lex would agree that he was not planning to use Jones, which would be true. He had no definite plans to use Jones' skills, but he never knew when those skills might be needed. It was an obscured truth. Perhaps he really was his father's son, after all.

The nurse left the room, but Clark stayed behind. "I'm glad you're all right, Mr. Luthor."

Lionel studied Clark. "You actually mean that, don't you?"

"Uh, yes?" Clark seemed unsure of the correct answer. He glanced at Lex, standing beside him, for help.

"Hmm." Lionel looked between Clark and Lex, before addressing his son. "Bring Mr. Kent with you when you come for dinner in Metropolis next month. I'd like to get to know your lover better."

Clark blushed beet red, and even Lex colored some. The teen stammered an excuse and practically fled from the room.

"Dad," Lex said with a hint of embarrassment. "Clark and I haven't... we aren't lovers."

"But you will be by the time you come for dinner," Lionel said knowingly.

"I'm leaving now." Lex ignored Lionel's chuckles as he went to leave. "I'll be back to check you out of the hospital around noon."

He paused at the door, a hand on the knob, and glanced over his shoulder at his father. "I'm glad you're okay, too, Dad, and... Iloveyou."

With that, Lex fled as quickly as Clark, not daring to wait for a reply.

 

Epilogue: Happily Ever After

 

"Hey, Lex," Clark greeted cheerfully as he entered the study at Luthor manor. "What's going on?"

Lex didn't lift his eyes from the blueprints spread out over the desk. "I'm deciding where to put a storage facility for the meteor rocks. I want it to be convenient to the new plant, but separate enough for safety. I'd really like to avoid turning my employees into mutants, if possible."

Once the police investigation into the bombing had finished (case unsolved, filed: unimportant), Lionel had decided to give full control over LuthorCorp Plant No. 3 to Lex. After the cleverness involving the Mr. Jones problem last May, the elder Luthor wanted to see what else Lex was capable of doing on his own initiative. It was an opportunity Lex had been waiting for, to show Lionel that he was a Luthor, too, and he would make his father proud.

"It sounds like you've been working hard," Clark said casually. "It's probably time for you to take a break and have sex with me."

Lex didn't look up. "Clark, the surveyor needs my decision by five o'clock."

"It's only noon."

Lex still didn't look up. "It's Wednesday. I'm working."

"It's summer. I'm horny."

Lex refused to look up. "So jerk off and I'll screw you after five o'clock."

"Okay."

Lex wasn't going to look up. He wasn't, even when he heard the rub of material against skin... the sound of Clark's breathy groan... the slide of a hand on flesh...

His voice cracked when he said, "I didn't mean to jerk off here."

Clark laughed darkly.

"Clark--."

He moaned.

"Clark--."

He gasped softly. "Oh, Lex."

Lex couldn't stand it any more. He looked up.

Clark was perched on the arm of the couch, fully clothed and smiling evilly, while rubbing the palms of his hands together.

"You are so dead."

Lex took off after Clark as he ran from the room, their laughter filling the ancient halls of the castle. The bald billionaire and the beautiful boy, subtle media darlings, were completely happy. They loved each other, and did so through the ups and downs, dealing with Clark's alienness, and the fact that Lex was very much his father's son.

Proving that, sometimes, fairy tale endings do come true.

 

End


End file.
